Carton and blank therefor

ABSTRACT

A packaging system with an improved shelf pusher function to enhance the retail shelf-stocking is disclosed. The packaging system includes a carton comprising a dispensing element that is co-operative with product display unit to provide for an automatic push of the packaged products to the front of the display unit. The blank for forming the carton, the shelf with which the carton is co-operable, and the method of loading the shelf are also disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional application relies on the filing date of provisional U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/177649 filed on May 12, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the retail field, it is known to use display units or shelves that comprise a dispensing element that automatically pushes products to the front of the display unit. This functionality is useful because it reduces the manpower involved in monitoring and adjusting the position of products available for sale on shelves. Such dispensing units however, can be time-consuming to load and refill. Nevertheless, many retail outlets have already invested in these “Pusher” systems and an alternative solution to such auto-dispensers probably would not be economical. The currently used pusher systems that are in place, in store shelves, utilize a traveling back stop that uses a strip of tension metal to continuously move a line of products forward to the front of the shelf for easy access.

Accordingly, there is a need for a packaging with an improved shelf pusher system that enhances the stocking of retail shelves, yet allowing for retro-fitting to existing retail shelves.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a packaging system with an improved shelf pusher function that enhances the stocking of retail shelves. The disclosed carton of the present packaging system comprises a dispensing element that is co-operative with product display unit to provide for an automatic push of the packaged products to the front of the display unit. The blank for forming the carton, the shelf with which the carton is co-operable, and the method of loading the shelf are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of one embodiment of the blank suitable for the construction of the disclosed carton;

FIG. 2A shows a plan view of one embodiment of the blank suitable for the construction of the disclosed carton;

FIG. 2B shows a plan view of one embodiment of the blank suitable for the construction of the disclosed carton;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 2A from the top, front-end and first sides;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 2A from the top, back-end and first sides;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 2A from the first side, back-end and bases;

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the carton of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 as the back-end wall being progressively opened; and

FIG. 8 to FIG. 15 illustrate a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 1 being operated with a shelf dispensing system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

While the disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof.

The disclosed carton is for the packaging system with an improved shelf pusher function to enhance the stocking of a retail shelf. The carton comprises:

-   -   (a) a base wall upon which the packaged articles rest and are         supported;     -   (b) a top wall;     -   (c) a first side wall and a second side wall connecting the base         wall and the top wall;     -   (d) a front-end wall connecting the top, base and side walls;     -   (e) a back-end wall connecting the top, base and side walls;     -   (f) a base portion removal element positioned on the back-end         wall for progressive displacement of the base wall either         partially or completely,         wherein the base portion removal element is operable whilst the         carton base wall is disposed proximate to the shelf so that the         packaged articles in the carton are depositable directly onto         the shelf as the base wall is displaced.

In one embodiment, the carton further includes an initiator element for facilitating access to the base portion removal element, wherein the base portion removal element is operable after the initiator element has been deployed so that the carton may be loaded into the shelf and the base wall of the carton may be progressively displaceable, either partially or completely, as the carton is progressively loaded further into the shelf for depositing the packaged articles onto the shelf.

In one embodiment, the base portion removal element of the disclosed carton comprises a tear strip defined by two frangible lines extending the length of the carton base wall.

In one embodiment, the back-end wall of the carton comprises a tear initiation element to facilitate the removal of a portion or an entire of that back-end wall, wherein the removable portion is coupled to the two frangible lines of the base portion removal element.

In one embodiment, the tear initiation element of the back-end wall comprises an aperture and at least one severable connection, wherein the severable connection defines the removable portion of the back-end wall and is connected at one end to the aperture and at the other end to the two frangible lines of the base portion removal element. When desired, the removable portion of the back-end wall may be sized such that after its removal a part of a pusher-mechanism is receivable at that end of the carton.

In one embodiment wherein a retail shelf has an automatic-pusher mechanism, the shelf comprising, at a front end thereof, an engaging element that is co-operable with an engaging element of a carton, for facilitating the loading of the contents of that carton onto the shelf.

In one embodiment, the base portion removal element comprises an engaging element that is co-operable with an engaging element of a shelf that comprises a resiliently biased pusher-mechanism. In one embodiment, the engaging element of the base portion removal element of the carton is an aperture and the engaging element of the shelf is a hook. The hook on the shelf may be either integrally formed as part of the front end of the shelf or retro-fittable onto the front end of the shelf.

In one embodiment, the carton further comprises a frangible loop for removing a front-end wall of the carton.

FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B show three examples of the blanks suitable for use in forming the disclosed cartons. The illustrations relating to each embodiment are numbered and for ease of illustration and teaching, like reference numerals have been used in each of the embodiments, albeit, the reference numerals of later embodiments have been raised by a factor of ‘100’ or ‘200’ to distinguish them from the earlier embodiments. For ease of description and understanding, the three blank FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B will be described and referred to collectively.

Various known foldable sheet materials may be used as the blank for construction of the disclosed carton. Examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, plastics, cardboard, laminated paperboard, coated paperboard, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the blank may be formed of paperboard material having an unbleached side and a coated, printable, “white-side”. In the exemplary FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B, a unitary blank is used to form a carton. However, it will be understood that the cartons of the present disclosure may be formed of more than one blank of material and such blanks may be joined together. Furthermore, whereas the exemplary FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B demonstrate the cartons with the end-load fully enclosed type, it will readily be understood by one skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be applied to many different carton types. Examples of these carton types include, but are not limited to, cartons of the top-load fully enclosed type; wraparound type cartons; tray-type cartons, and non-fully enclosed cartons.

FIG. 1 shows a blank 10 comprises a top panel 12; a first side panel 14; a base panel 16; a second side panel 18; and a glue flap 20. These main panels (12, 14, 16, 18, and 20) are hinged together in series along fold lines 32, 34, 36, and 38. Whereas each of these main wall forming panels are shown as being single panels, in other embodiments a pair of panels could be joined together to form any of the main walls of the carton. The main walls form a tubular type structure which is shaped and sized to accommodate one or more packaged articles. The main walls may be designed to accommodate various numbers of packaged articles and to facilitate an efficient housing of the packaged articles within the carton's internal volume. For example, nine packaged articles may be contained within the carton in a single column. FIGS. 2 and 3 show other embodiments of the exemplary blanks suitable for use in the present disclosure.

End closure flaps (22 a, 24 a, 26 a, 28 a, 22 b, 24 b/44 b, 26 b, and 48 b/28 b) are hinged, generally along fold lines (40 a and 40 b) to each end of the main panels (12, 14, 16, and 18) and serve to close the ends of the carton tubular structure by being folded to form composite front-end wall and back-end wall. FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show the carton from formed from the blank of FIG. 2A.

The construction of carton from the blank is well-known and widely practiced. In one embodiment, the carton may be constructed by gluing the flap 20 to secure the first side wall 18 to the top panel 12, and then opening the resulting partly formed blank into an open-ended tubular structure. The packaged articles may be loaded into the carton through one or both opening ends of the carton. Then, the end flaps are folded to form the composite front-end wall and back-end wall. When appropriated, the carton may be formed by a series of sequential folding operations in a straight line machine so that the carton may not be required to be rotated or inverted in order to complete its construction. It is understood that the construction of the disclosed carton is not limited to that described and may be altered according to particular manufacturing requirements.

The disclosed blank comprises an element that enables the carton formed therefrom to facilitate the loading of the packaged articles into a store shelf pusher mechanism. For understanding of the way in which the invention operates, an example of such a store-shelf pusher mechanism with which the illustrated cartons could co-operate will first be described. Such a shelf system may also illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 15.

An exemplary store shelf features guards or sides on either side of the products that span the full depth of the shelf. In one embodiment, the full depth of the shelf may be approximately 16″ (40.6 cm) in length and 3″ (7.6 cm) in height. These guards work to keep the packaged articles inside the carton straight as tension of a pusher element acts to move the products forward. The store shelf pusher may be a plastic strip with a channel for a metal tension strip. In one embodiment, the plastic strip is about 1.25″ (3.2 cm) in width. This tension strip rolls up behind a plastic pusher shuttle as it conveys forward. As the plastic shuttle moves towards the back of the shelf, the metal coil straightens out and becomes tight. In one embodiment, the plastic shuttle has a dimension of about 1.375″ (3.5 cm) in width and 3″ (7.6 cm) in height. An exemplary store shelf features a clear plastic front guard that is 1.5″ (3.8 cm) tall and spans the entire length of the store shelf, aisle end to aisle end. This front guard is a stopper that prevents the products from falling forward from the shelf due to the back pressure of the pusher. The described store shelf device is only one example embodiment. It will be understood that the dimensions and structures of the store shelf components may be varied and tailored to the selected end-use applications without departure from the teaching of present disclosure. The dimensions of the shuttle and the shelf may vary depending on the store shelf and the products being offered for sale or being displayed.

For co-operation with a store shelf and pusher similar to that described above, the cartons of the illustrated embodiments may be provided as “cartridges” that may load the shelf. As such, the cartons may be configured to hold a single column of packaged products to match the single column allotment for the products facing on the store shelf described. For application with the store shelves of differing capacity, cartons according to other embodiments of the disclosure may be sized to accommodate more than one column of the packaged articles. When desired, the number of packaged articles contained in a column within the disclosed carton may be a sufficient number to utilize the full shelf depth, so that after the “cartridge” carton has been used to load the shelf onto the pusher system, the shelf is at full capacity.

To enable the “cartridge” carton to be used in conjunction with a store shelf or other retail display means, the carton may be provided with a means for progressively removing the base wall or removing a substantial portion of the base wall, to enable the packaged articles to exit the carton through the base and directly into position on the store shelf. In the illustrated embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 a and 2B, each blank 10, 110, 210 is provided with a “zipper” or tear strip 16, 116, 216, respectively. For example, in the carton formed from the blank 10 of FIG. 1, the tear strip or removable portion of the base wall or removable base wall is defined by frangible lines 34 and 36. When desired, the removable portion may span the entire length of the carton base wall. Optionally, the removable portion may further extend into the front-end wall of the carton. The illustrated embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 a and 2B will now be considered in turn, since it is in the detail of the opening mechanisms that these illustrated embodiments differ.

Blank 10 of FIG. 1 comprises a base removal initiator that is provided by the back-end wall (22 b, 24 b, 44 b, 26 b, 28 b, 48 b). The back-end wall is constructed by first folding side end flaps 24 b/44 b and 28 b/48 b towards one another and then folding bottom back-end flap 26 b upwardly about fold line 40 b and folding top back-end flap 22 b downwardly. The top back-end flap 22 b is adhered to upper portions 44 b and 48 b of the side end flaps 24 b/44 and 28 b/48 b. The bottom back-end flap 26 b is adhered to lower portions 24 b and 28 b of the side end flaps 24 b/44 b and 28 b/48 b. The side end flaps 24 b/44 b and 28 b/48 b are shaped to create, when closed together, an aperture through which a user can insert one or more fingers in order to grasp part of the composite back-end wall. The inner top back-end flap 22 b is provided with a weakened line which is shaped in complimentary fashion to the shape of the upper part of the aperture created between side end flaps 24 b/44 b, and 28 b/48 b. In this way, the user can push the weakened section of the top back-end flap 22 b to access the aperture and insert one or more finger(s) into the aperture to facilitate a user's grasp of the back-end wall.

As shown in FIG. 1, the back-end flaps 24 b and 28 b are each coupled to the adjacent side wall 14 and 18, by means of a severable connection 64 and 66, respectively. Hence, once the back-end wall is grasped through the aperture between side end flaps 48 b and 44 b, a user can pull downwardly to separate the lower side end flaps 24 b and 28 b from the respective adjacent side panel 14 and 18. Since the bottom back-end flap 26 b is affixed to the side end flaps 24 b/44 b and 28 b/48 b, pulling downwardly on the side end flaps 24 b/44 b and 28 b/48 b causes the inner bottom back-end flap 26 b to be displaced. The further pulling of the lower part of the composite back-end wall away from the rest of the carton could, therefore, initiates tearing of the frangible lines 34 and 36 in the base wall. As such, the illustrated design of the end wall may allow for a tear to propagate through the severable connections 64 and 66 and into the frangible lines 34 and 36.

The frangible connections 34 and 36 may be positioned such that the base wall is completely removed to allow the packaged articles contained within the carton to be removed via the base opening and loaded directly onto a store shelf-pusher.

FIG. 8 to FIG. 15 illustrate a loading process of the disclosed carton into the store shelf. After initial removal of a lower part of the back-end wall, the carton may be angled into a store shelf-pusher between a shelf front 513 and pusher 515 and between the shelf side walls 517 a, 517 b. In one embodiment, the lower part of the back-end wall is large enough to allow the pusher 515 to contact the last packaged article in the carton.

In one embodiment, the base wall 16 may include an aperture 53 to assist the removal of the base wall 16 whilst the carton is disposed within the shelf. In such case, the articles that exit the carton via the base opening may be immediately deposited in place in the store shelf. This optionally aperture 53 may be used in co-operation with any known store shelf-pusher that includes a hook portion 519 as an integrally formed component of the shelf front 515 for engagement with aperture 53 on the base wall of the carton. FIG. 9 shows the store shelf having a hook portion 519. FIG. 10 shows an engagement of the hook and the aperture. FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 illustrate the mechanism for which the carton is installed into the store shelf and the base wall 16 is progressively removed. FIG. 13 shows how the front-end wall of the carton is later removed.

In other embodiments the aperture 53 and complimentary engagement means 519 is not provided. Nonetheless, once the pusher 515 is in contact with the last article in the carton, the carton may be pushed against the pusher 515 such that the pusher 515 acts against the article as the base wall 16 is held. Subsequently, the relative movement between the carton, its contents, the pusher 515, and the base wall 16 enables the articles to be progressively deposited onto the shelf.

Whereas is not desirable to replace installed shelf units, the provision of new shelf fronts comprising a complimentary engaging portion 519 for attaching to a carton of the present disclosure is a feasible solution. Additionally it is envisaged that such a complimentary engaging portion need not be provided as an integrally formed hook 519, but rather may be a retro-fitted element that may be installed to existing shelf units or be a removable tool that could be slotted onto a shelf unit for loading that shelf and then be removed after loading for reuse with another shelf and pusher unit.

As shown in FIG. 1, the frangible connections 34 and 36 may reach the bottom front-end flap 26 a of the front-end wall and the severable lines or perforate or frangible connections 62 and 60 continue therefrom. These severable lines 62 and 60 continue to the top panel 12 and the glue seam 20, where severable lines 58, 56, 54 and 52 are provided to form a continuous or endless frangible loop. After separating the base wall 16 from the carton, further pulling of that wall 16 may be used to remove a portion or an entire front-end wall and an associated portion of the top wall 12. The progressive breaking of the severable lines 62, 60, 58, 54, 52 and 56 is shown in FIG. 13, and the resulting remaining carton is shown in FIG. 14. As shown in FIG. 14, after the base wall 16 is completely removed and the pusher 515 pushed back to its limit, the contents of the carton are loaded into the shelf. When desired, the side walls 14, 18 and remaining top wall 12 may be removed easily as a joined unit by simply sliding the side walls 14 and 18 out from between the articles and sides 517 a and 517 b of the shelf unit, and then pulling the top panel 12 as illustrated in FIG. 15.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B show other exemplary embodiments of the disclosed blanks. These blanks include a tear initiator element, similar to that shown in FIG. 1. The blank of FIG. 1 include side end flaps 24 b/44 b and 28 b/48 b separated by a shaped cut line to form an aperture. For the blanks of FIG. 2A, the lower and upper portions of the side end flaps 124 b/144 b and 128 b/148 b are linked by a severable connection which is continuous with the severable connection 166 and 164 between the lower part of the side end flaps (124 b and 128 b) and the adjacent side wall 114 and 118. Furthermore, the composite back-end wall is formed by placing the top and bottom end flaps 150 and 126 inside of the side end flaps 124 b/144 b and 128 b/148 b. The aperture between the upper and lower parts of the side end flaps again is provided to allow a user to grasp the back-end wall for initiating a tear that may propagate into the bottom wall frangible connections 134 and 136, so that progressive removal of the base wall can be achieved completely or partially. FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 illustrate the use of an initiator and initial removal of the lower part of the composite end wall in relation to a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 2A. The blank of FIG. 2B has a similar tear initiator element as that of the blank of FIG. 2A.

It will be understood that many configurations of weakened panels or panel portions with frangible and severable connections may be used to provide an initial point of entry for a user such that the user may grasp a portion of the carton to affect a progressive removal of the base wall or base wall portion. In other embodiments, a pull tab may be provided as a means for initiating the removal of the base wall or base portion. In yet further embodiments, an aperture may be created by breaking a perforation provided in the end wall. Many other variations are envisaged such that the carton may include a point of entry so that the user may activate the severable connection in the base wall.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the disclosed carton may include a frangible provided by continuously formed and joined severable connections 158, 156, 154, and 152. In one embodiment, the frangible loop follows an angled rather than square path and a front corner of each side wall 114 and 118 is removed at the time of removing the front-end wall. In one embodiment, the blank includes a stop in the form of a fold line that is disposed between tear lines 134 and 136. This stop serves to limit the propagation of the tear from frangible lines 134 and 136 immediately into the front-end wall tear loop. As such, the separation of the front-end wall from the remainder of the carton is undertaken as a separate function which is optionally initiated by an aperture or other initiation means provided in the top wall 112 proximate the severable line 156 in that wall.

After removal of the bottom back-wall and loading of the shelf through the bottom back-wall opening thereby created, it is optional that the front-end wall is removed. Moreover, the remaining carton may be removed from the shelf leaving the article column behind. In other applications of the present disclosure, it might be desirable that the front-end wall is removed, optionally using a tear loop as described and leaving the remaining top 112 and side walls 114 and 118 in the store shelf. This might be beneficial, since the printable paperboard of the side walls and top wall could provide a good medium for display and advertising graphics and indicia.

In the present disclosure, a removable bottom back-wall may be progressively displaced whilst that bottom back-wall is in close contact with a surface of a shelf, so that the packaged articles in the carton are deposited on that shelf surface. The removable bottom back-wall may take a variety of formats. In addition to the aforementioned embodiments, the carton may be provided with a slidably removable bottom back-wall that is held by railed side walls and which is frangibly connected to the front-end wall and/or back-end wall of the carton until it is time to slidably and progressively extract the bottom back-wall to allow the packaged articles to be deposited on a shelf. In the tear-out format described and illustrated, it may be beneficial that an initiator is provided to facilitate the grasping of a portion of the carton for pulling to tear-out the bottom back-end wall. The removable base portion may be continuous with a removable front-end wall. In other embodiments, the disclosed carton may include a complimentary means for coupling the base of the carton, near the carton's back end, to the front end of the shelf.

It can be appreciated that various changes may be made within the scope of the present invention, for example, the size and shape of the panels may be adjusted to accommodate articles of differing size or shape.

It will be recognized that as used herein, directional references such as “top”, “bottom”, “front”, “back”, “end”, “side”, “inner”, “outer”, “upper” and “lower” do not necessarily limit the respective panels to such orientation, and in some instances serve to distinguish these panels from one another. Nevertheless, the invention has specific application to the loading of shelves and this requires the cartons to have a progressively removable base portion. By base portion, it is mean the surface of the carton that supports the articles such the articles are disposed in an upright orientation.

Any reference to hinged connection should not be construed as necessarily referring to a single fold line only; indeed, it is envisaged that hinged connection can be formed from one or more of the following, a short slit, a frangible line or a fold line without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore any reference to a severable connection should be construed as encompassing a variety of means for providing a frangible, breakable or perforate connection which includes, without limitation, any one or a combination of: a continuous score; a series of interrupted full depth cuts; a series of interrupted half-depth cuts; angled cuts such as those of the illustrated arrangements.

While the invention has been described by reference to various specific embodiments, it should be understood that numerous changes may be made within the spirit and scope of the inventive concepts described. It is intended that the invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but will have full scope defined by the language of the following claims. 

1. A carton for housing packaged articles and using in a conjunction with a retail shelf, including: (a) a base wall upon which the packaged articles rest and are supported; (b) a top wall; (c) a first side wall and a second side wall connecting the base wall and the top wall; (d) a front-end wall connecting the top, base and side walls; (e) a back-end wall connecting the top, base and side walls; (f) a base portion removal element positioned on the back-end wall for progressive displacement of the base wall either partially or completely, wherein the base portion removal element is operable whilst the carton base wall is disposed proximate to the shelf so that the packaged articles in the carton are depositable directly onto the shelf as the base wall is displaced.
 2. The carton of claim 1, wherein the base portion removal element comprises a tear strip defined by two frangible lines extending a length of the base wall.
 3. The carton of claim 1, further comprises a frangible loop for removing the front-end wall of the carton.
 4. The carton of claim 1, further including a tear initiation element for facilitating access to the base portion removal element, wherein the base portion removal element is operable after the tear initiation element is deployed such that the base wall of the carton is progressively displaceable, either partially or completely, as the carton is progressively loaded further into the shelf for depositing the packaged articles onto the shelf.
 5. The carton of claim 4, wherein: the base portion removal element comprises two frangible lines, the tear initiation element comprises an aperture and at least one severable connection, the severable connection defining a removable portion of the back-end wall and being connected at one end to the aperture and at the other end to the two frangible lines of the base portion removal element.
 6. The carton of claim 1, wherein: the retail shelf includes an engaging element and an automatic-pusher mechanism; and the carton further includes an engaging element co-operable with the engaging element of the retail shelf to facilitate a loading of the packaged articles in the carton onto the shelf.
 7. The carton of claim 6, wherein the engaging element of the retail shelf comprises a hook structure, and the engaging element of the carton comprises an aperture structure.
 8. The carton of claim 1, wherein: the retail shelf includes an engaging element comprising a resiliently biased pusher-mechanism; and the base portion removal element includes an engaging element co-operable with the engaging element of the retail shelf to facilitate a loading of the packaged articles in the carton onto the shelf.
 9. A blank for forming the carton according to claim
 1. 10. A retail shelf including: an automatic-pusher mechanism; and a shelf engaging element that is co-operable with the engaging element of the carton according to claim 6, such that loading of the packaged articles in the carton onto the shelf is facilitated.
 11. A retail shelf including: a pusher mechanism; and a shelf engaging element that is co-operable with the engaging element of the carton according to claim 8, such that loading of the packaged articles in the carton onto the shelf is facilitated.
 12. A package system with enhanced retail shelf-stocking performance, comprising the carton according to claim
 1. 13. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 2. 14. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 3. 15. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 4. 16. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 5. 17. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 6. 18. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 7. 19. A package system comprising the carton according to claim
 8. 20. A blank for forming the carton according to claim
 3. 